Herald Online wins website award

8:00 PM

The Herald Online has been named joint winner in the news website of the year category of the annual New Zealand NetGuide magazine awards.

Sharing the honour, from among 65 nominees, was the website nzoom. The TVNZ portal was also named New Zealand website of the year.

The panel of overseas judges noted nzoom's clarity of design, world news coverage, and multimedia capability.

They said the Herald Online "rated highest for its huge amount of local coverage," and "the constant updating really bought home the immediacy of the web as a preferred news source."

Rugby Heaven, a joint venture between the Herald and newspapers in Australia and South Africa, was named sport and recreation site of the year.

"This is how every sport should be covered on the Web," said the judges.

"It's right up there with the best in the world in terms of volume, depth and coverage."

The awards were judged by a panel of four overseas internet heavy-weights: Alan Jones - media director at Yahoo, Kate Breen - marketing manager at Access1, Candice Hickman - brand manager at Telstra Big Pond and Louise Poultne - marketing director of Orica.

Full results:

e-tail

Winner: IQ Toys


This award recognises the best online shopping, auctions or other trading site that demonstrates ease of use and navigation, security, service and support.

e-commerce

Winner: travel.co.nz/corporate


This award recognises the best New Zealand companies using the web for transactions with clients and customers.

Corporate

Winner: INL


The judges were looking for the site which demonstrated innovation to relay information to the public, business partner or customers.

Finance

Winner: Quicken


This award recognises the best site demonstrating the use of the Web as a serious business tool.

Non-profit organisation

Winner: Parents Centres


The award goes to the association, charity or club which best spreads its message to its target audience.

Education

Winner: Sunshine


The judges looked at sites from educational institutions or ones which contained educational resources able to be used by teachers or pupils.

News service

Winners (joint):
Herald Online, nzoom


This award recognises the site which, the judges decided, best used the immediacy of the Web to cover the latest breaking news stories.

Youth site

Winner: nzgirl


This award recognises the site best geared to teenagers, perhaps one which pushed the boundaries and made use of net tools such as chat and MP3.

Employment

Winner: seek


This award is for the best or most effective career site. The judges looked for job-hunting resources as well as listings of vacancies.

Travel

Winner: travelonline


Quantity and quality of information, ease of use, resources and overall consumer experience were key issues in the judging of this site.

Music/entertainment

Winner: soundsnz


The judges looked for colour, noise, and clever use of audio/MP3 to capture the feel of entertainment.

Portal

Winner: xtra


A bit of everything and a strong local flavour.

Sports and recreation

Winner: Rugby Heaven


The judges wanted to see a wealth of information and regular sporting news updates.

Individual homepage

Winner: Daniel Karaitana


The judges looked for the most interesting, innovative page from home enthusiasts.

Up-and-coming Web designer

Winner: Cherie Coley


Individuals who had been designing sites for under a year were asked to submit three of their sites to the judges.

Web designer

Winner: Shift


The judges examined portfolios of sites from professional designers, concentrating on good looks, easy navigation and stimulation.

ISP

Winner: paradise.net


The best internet service provider, chosen by NetGuide readers.

Innovation

Winner: webmedia


The judges were looking for a site, ISP or product "that glows with Kiwi ingenuity and entrepreneurial cunning."

Site of the Year

Winner: nzoom


The outstanding site from winners in all the other categories. The judges looked for great design, original ideas and a real New Zealand flavour.